Celebrate the local music scene this month with the emerging homegrown hip hop musical artists you need to add to your playlist now
What better way to celebrate National Day and the patriotic month of August than by streaming the musical playlists of some of the country’s emerging hip hop and rap artists? Get ready to channel your inner poet, rage and beat enthusiast with these seven rising hip hop and rap artists and their newest releases that are bound to get you energised and empowered for your next battle of the day.
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Hip hop has already taken its shape in the eclectic music scene of Singapore with the likes of Faris Jabba, The Lion City Boy, Mediocre Haircut Crew and many more—who have redefined the genre with their unique multicultural twists and regional input in their music—and it’s not done with us yet.
The hip hop and rap scene in Singapore has more to offer with the introduction of new faces and personalities in the business, showing how hip hop is a dynamic force to be reckoned with. These artists not only push the boundaries of what hip hop is culturally defined as by incorporating a rojak of different languages and traditional music styles into their split bars and verses, but they also champion the Singaporean identity and experience by showcasing cultural wordplay that is exclusive to the region and society we live in—instead of the typical gangsta hip hop tropes.
Here are some of the new and rising hip hop artists and rappers you need to have on your playlists now.
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1. Yams
Having had his fair share of traumatic experiences growing up—with his mother abandoning him and his family when he was 19 and his father committed to a mental hospital—Yams expresses his innermost passions and emotions through music as the only safety valve he was left with. He takes inspiration from being honest and open about his past experiences and his desire to break away from the typical standards of success and normality that are ubiquitous in Singapore and translates them into the mixing of genres and indie styles in his songs like daydreams and tears. He believes that music-making is an outlet that not only keeps him compos mentis, and he also hopes to touch the lives of others through his groundbreaking music.
Check him out on Spotify or Apple Music
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